The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1887-09-08
It is Eat Fifty Years Sin,

~ - GIL c!LVy teaES S!I-J
IL was fun TO live.
Their was leisure for enjoyment.
Men slept in beds.
The one~horse wagon was. In vogue.
The buggy with springs was un-
known.
The craze for gold had not come.
Brawn and brain were champions.
The friction match was curiosity.
We were a nation of hard workers.
At every crossroad n shoemaker and
n wheelwright throve.
Elections were unbought.
A days journey was notable
event.
Highways were the avenues of com
inerce,
The sewing machine was unhcard Of
The Yankee peddlar was prosper-
ing.
He had not yet circumnayigated tho
globe.
Our emblem of commercial haste
was tho coach
Travelling from New York TO Phila-
delphia was n good days work.
There were neither mowers or self
binders in existence.
Women cooked Ivy oren fires.
Young men were skilled with tho ax
The era OF forest destruction was Mt
its best.
Tho ax was the resource OF many
families.
At night-fall talow candles made
the light.
Butter would not pay for market
ing one hundred miles from home.
The steam saw mill had not begun
to make merchandise of the forest.
The lord OF a thousand acres dined
with his men.
The matron advised with her maids
and aided them in securing mates.
Girls and matrons boasted of their
spinning.
Only tho thrifty took n newspaper.
The day began with II dawn-ended
with nine o'clock.
Baseball was not national game
The circus and clown were theevent
OF the year.
The menagerie gave the church
membersa good chance
The clock, tin, and notion peddleI
visited o"orv house.
In trade produce answered whcu
money was lacking.
Every thrifty farm,housc enter.
itaiued.
The railroad was Matching.
A"o oS'os'"il" ""s uuY,.o,nl. tom.
Dipthsria was unknown. a..
Story tolIcrs and hearty laugh
. abounded.
Divorce was not.
Hard drinking until old age scarce
y enabled n man to see snakcs.
Prairie farms were undreamed Of
The mighty West was unknown.
The territory Of the United State
''''N NV bttll NIOSS til.
Forest-clearing was the vocation O
one-third of the men.
Burning falows in New York, Ohio
ana pennsylvania we're daily sights
Most men were born, lived and die,
in the same county.
Prosperous farmers handled lttl,
money.
The saddle was the emblem of hast,
and speed.
Few had seen n purchased carpet.
Family garments were home
wrought.
Professional men subsisted well on
an income of $500 per year.
Doors were left on tho latch al
night.
The family wash hung out all night
Cotton sheeting was fifty cents pei
yard; not as good as now for five.
Frugal homes new little anxiety.
Property was real and personal.
Real property was real estate. Per-
sonal property was notes, mortgages,
and farm stock
Government stocks, bonds, railroad
and manufacturing stocks, bank
stocks, mining stocks, municipal
bonds, and speculative values were
unknown.
| There was no dealing in futures.
Gambling was betting on tue turn
OF n card
A mans value was reckoued by
what he could earn, not what he
could make.
Would we exchange tho present for
the enjoyment of fifty years ago2 No.
People were more generally happy
and contented then, but it was low
or average.
While few are below the then av-
erage, the majority are far above.
The difference is clear gain.
t2sazss<r<11sasGs<rsz&zsEEa
Excitement in Texas